Don't Take My Sunshine Away
by The Disposable Villain
Summary: Will Solace has never had the best of luck with relationships. First it was the drama with Louis Jones, then there was Chiba Koike and finally, there was Harry Styles. Now, he's decided that relationships just aren't worth the pain. Nico di Angelo has had roughly the same luck, and doesn't think he'll come back from the way he fell for Percy. Maybe they're both wrong. Solangelo.
1. And the Door Closed

_DD: Yup, I ship Solangelo as well as Jasico. And yet I still own nothing but my OC Louis._

* * *

Will Solace yawned as he stepped out of the infirmary and stretched. It was no more than two weeks since he had arrived at Camp Half-Blood and already he was proving himself to be one of the most skilled healers in the Apollo cabin.

Which was quite fortunate since he wasn't a great archer and his 'futuristic' dreams came few and far between.

Even at eleven, his golden blonde hair, blue eyes and sun-kissed skin that was littered with freckles was making him popular with the girls in the Aphrodite cabin as well.

But he already had someone in his life; Louis Jones. Louis had been his best friend in the 'outside world' as Will had begun to call it, and had come to CHB at the same time as Will because of an _empousa_ attack on their school.

When Will had been claimed on the first day and Louis hadn't, his friend just smiled and congratulated him before waiting for someone to claim him as well.

Two days later, his wish was granted and he was claimed by Aphrodite, which Will thought oddly suited him.

Their relationship had... confused Will since the previous summer. Half the time, he wasn't sure whether Louis was flirting with him or just messing around. But two days after he had been claimed, when Louis had kissed him, it had become obvious that it was the former.

Will felt a small flutter of happiness when he thought of that. Louis had kissed him. And now they were dating.

Most of the camp knew about it and were fine with it. There was of course, the odd glare or muttered insult thrown at them, but they were uncommon.

Will grinned and continued walking to his boyfriend's cabin. When he reached it, Louis was already waiting for him.

"Hey, Sunshine," Louis chuckled, smiling.

Will hesitated. Something seemed off about the way Louis smiled; the way it didn't quite reach his eyes. The way his gaze stopped just below Will's. Shaking it off, Will returned the smile. "Hey, Louis."

Louis stepped away from the door, letting Will enter the cabin. For once, no one was around.

Louis sat down in one of the many love chairs in the cabin and Will sat next to him. "They're working you way too hard at the infirmary," Louis sighed as Will yawned.

"I don't mind," Will replied, resting his head on Louis' shoulder. "I can't shoot an arrow to save my life, so if I can save someone pain by working overtime at the infirmary, it means I'm not completely worthless."

Louis tilted Will's chin slightly so that the Son of Apollo was facing him. "You're not completely worthless. You've helped me in any case." He pressed his lips onto Will's.

Will blinked in surprise before returning the kiss. Unlike the previous ones, this kiss seemed more... desperate somehow.

When Louis broke the kiss a few minutes later, Will smiled at him. "I love you."

However, instead of saying 'You too, Sunshine' or 'Love you too' like usual, Louis chuckled coldly. "You really are naive sometimes, Will."

"What do you mean?" Will asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"I mean that I meant what I said when I said that you weren't_ completely_ worthless." Louis smirked emotionlessly. "You see, the Aphrodite cabin has a rite of passage; we have to break someone's heart before we're truly accepted."

Will's heart dropped and his eyes seemed to lose their usual sparkle. "Wh-what do you mean?"

Louis sighed, shaking his head. "It was your heart I chose to break, Will. I'm straight."

Will shakily stood up, staring at the ground. He knew that if he looked into Louis' stormy grey-green eyes, he would break. "Alright then..." He turned towards the door. "I guess I'll see you around..."

His steps were slow because of two reasons. The first was that he felt so shaky, he was afraid he would collapse.

The second was because he was hoping Louis would start laughing, walk over to him and hug him from behind and say 'Don't leave, Sunshine; I was only joking'.

However Louis didn't look away from the portrait of his mother on the wall.

Taking a deep breath, Will walked outside and closed the door on his first boyfriend.

After taking a few deep, calming breaths, he walked over to the almost-deserted campfire. The only one there other than him was a girl with brown hair and a welcoming aura.

She looked up, revealing her flame-coloured eyes, and smiled softly at him as he sat down beside her. "Hey. Are you okay?"

"Not exactly," Will admitted in little more than a whisper.

After a moment's silence, the girl put a hand on his shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Will hesitated. "I... my boyfriend, he... he's in the Aphrodite cabin and he..."

The girl sighed. "That stupid rite of passage they have. Say no more." Will felt his shoulders begin to shake as he tried to contain his sobs and the girl pulled him into a comforting hug. "Just cry... everyone needs to cry sometimes..."

Tears leaked out of Will's eyes and slipped onto the girl's shoulder, staining her top.

She didn't seem to mind though. She just rubbed comforting circles into his back and murmured soothing words into his ear. After a few minutes when his tears had subsided, she smiled at him. "What's your name?"

"W-" Will hiccupped. "Will Solace. What about you?"

The girl's smile became somewhat mischievous. "Hestia."


	2. The New Son of Love

_DD: I swear, my OCs do have a reason for being here! And they will be gone by the fourth chapter. Promise. Just bare with me for Solangelo._

* * *

Will glanced up as one of his brothers ran over to him, gasping for breath. "What's wrong?"

"New camper... attacked... injured badly..." His brother wheezed.

Will snatched his first aid box from the nearby table and darted outside towards the large, white pine tree that marked the entrance to the camp. Almost immediately, he found the camper that his brother had mentioned surrounded by a hoard of kids from cabin six, none of whom were doing anything.

"If you're not here to help, then get out of the way!" Will called angrily. The group parted, giving him a clear view of a boy of roughly twelve or thirteen - his own age - gasping for breath, clutching his bleeding stomach. "For gods sakes, none of you did anything?" Will snapped as he sank to his knees in front of the boy and pulled some nectar and cotton balls from the first aid kit. He gently peeled the boy's shirt away from the wound, causing him to hiss in pain and squeeze his eyes shut. "Sorry," he mumbled softly as he pressed cotton balls to the wound to stem the bleeding. "What's your name?"

The boy hesitated before opening his acidic green eyes and meeting Will's gaze. "Ch-Chiba Koike..." He choked out in response. "Or Koike Chiba... I don't really know anymore. Koike's my first name."

"Have you been claimed yet?" Will asked. He had to keep Koike distracted and awake.

"I...I don't know..." Koike replied. "I... a white dove told me to f-follow it and it led me here..."

One of the Ares kids snorted. "Great; another of Aphrodite's demi-god wannabes."

"Oh, shut up, Charles," Will sighed as Koike lowered his gaze. "She's your dad's girlfriend."

The kid just shrugged as Will turned his gaze back to Koike. "What happened?"

"Some kind of... girl with messy hair, wings and claws attacked me when I was almost at the tree," Koike replied, his face regaining a small bit of colour now that the bleeding had almost stopped. "I think it was a harpy or something."

"Right..." Will just nodded. "Can you sit up?" Koike hesitated before nodding and sitting up with Will's help. Still pressing the cotton balls to the wound on Koike's stomach, Will handed him a flask of nectar. "Take a mouthful or so of that; just don't drink too much."

"No, do," the Ares kid, Charles, snickered. "I haven't seen a burning kid of Aphrodite in a while."

Koike's eyes widened a fraction and he took a small mouthful of the drink only for his eyes to widen even more. "It... tastes like berry tea..."

Will chuckled at his surprise. "Nectar tastes like your favorite drink, which is determined by your subconscious mind," he explained as he removed the cotton balls. "This might sting," he warned as he dabbed disinfectant onto the wound. Koike tensed slightly, but other than that, he seemed fine with it.

Will smiled at him, placed gauze on the wound and wrapped a bandage around Koike's stomach until the gauze was securely in place. "There we go." He stood and offered Koike a hand to help him up.

Koike gratefully took it. "I never got your name," he said shyly.

Will grinned at him. "I'm Will Solace."

* * *

"Um... can I... sit here?"

Will looked up in surprise to see Koike hesitantly standing beside him at Apollo's table in the dining hall. "Sure; it's a free country," he replied with a smile. As Koike sat down, he raised an eyebrow. "But don't you want to sit with your cabin?"

"Not really," Koike admitted as he pushed a lock of mousey brown hair out of his eyes. "I refused to do the rite of passage they have so now no one's talking to me."

Will nodded, remembering the rite of passage all too well. "Well if you want to get away from your cabin for a while during the day, we could always use extra help at the infirmary."

Koike glanced at him, his eyes sparkling. "Really?" When Will nodded, he grinned. "That'd be great; thanks, Will-kun."

"It's no problem," Will chuckled. "And you can drop the honorific. We're friends, right?"

Koike hesitated before nodding. "Yeah. Thanks, Will."

* * *

A few weeks later, Will looked up with a smile as Koike entered the infirmary at the usual time. "Morning, Ko."

"Morning, Sunshine," came the usual reply. Then Koike hesitated slightly. "I...I need to t-tell you something..."

Will nodded. "Okay then. Go for it."

Koike glanced around as though to make sure no one else was there. His cheeks slowly began to turn red. "I... you see, I'm... um... I...uh..."

"You...?" Will prompted. Koike swallowed. Will smiled and put a hand on Koike's shoulder, causing his blush to deepen. "You can tell me." _Please be what I think it is..._

"I really like you," Koike blurted out. His cheeks turned practically luminous and he looked down.

Will chuckled and smiled at him. "So it_ isn'_t one-sided."

Koike met his gaze. "You mean-?"

Will pecked him on the lips, his smile growing. "Yeah. I like you too." He glanced up as someone rushed a child of Hermes into the infirmary. "Come on; looks like we have more work to do."

Koike just nodded, a huge smile on his face.

* * *

Will looked up as one of his brothers, the one who came to get him when Koike first arrived at camp, ran into the infirmary. "W-Will, it's Koike."

Will's blood ran cold. "What happened to him?"

"The quest that he went on last week with those two Hermes kids..." His brother began. "They... they met Medusa on the way, and-"

Will's eyes widened in horror and he pushed past his brother, running into the camp. The two Stoll brothers from the Hermes cabin were there, a bit battered but otherwise unharmed.

When they saw him, they looked down. "Will," Travis Stoll began. "I... I'm really sorry..."

"He sacrificed himself to save us," Connor mumbled. "He said... it was better that two people got away than if none of us did and he ran out to distract her. When we last saw him..." He trailed off.

Will just nodded. "You two go to the infirmary," he said in little more than a whisper. "I'll tell Chiron you're back."

The two brothers nodded and left. Will took a deep breath before half-stumbling towards the almost-deserted campfire again. The girl with brown hair was there, as she always was. "He's gone," was all Will managed to say as his legs gave way beneath him and he collapsed onto the log she was sitting on.

Hestia slowly nodded. "I know..." She met his gaze. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Will hesitated before nodding. "Okay." Then he noticed that someone else was at the fire. Someone that he hadn't seen before.

Hestia grinned and glanced at the boy, whose dark hair was hanging in his eyes as he shuffled through what looked like MythoMagic cards. She nudged the boy lightly, causing him to look up, revealing his dark brown eyes. "Nico, this is Will Solace. Will, I'd like you to meet Nico di Angelo."


	3. The Last Ray of Sunshine

_DD: Okay, Harry isn't really my OC but I'm using him anyway. He's the last one and I promise there's a tiny bit of Solangelo in this chapter. There's more in the next._

* * *

Will looked up as Harry Styles, a son of Hermes, stumbled into the infirmary. "What happened this time, Harry?" He sighed.

"My cabin was against cabin six in Capture the Flag," he muttered in response as he clutched his wounded arm to his chest.

"Today's Thursday, Harry." Will ran a hand through his hair. "So what really happened was you were pick-pocketing the Ares kids?"

Harry's gaze shifted from side to side as he sat down. "... Possibly..."

"Unbelievable," Will mumbled under his breath as he grabbed some bandages and disinfectant. "The war is only a few days away, Harry; we can't afford anymore injuries."

Harry blew his floppy, brown hair out of his eyes. "I know..." He looked up, meeting Will's gaze. "And I'm sorry. If it wasn't for the fact that it gave me an excuse to see you again, I would have just bandaged it myself."

"This needs more than just-" Will began. Then he paused and blinked, the hand holding a disinfectant-sodden cotten ball halfway to the gash on Harry's arm. "You came here... to spend time with me?" Harry nodded. "Why?"

"Because I like you," he stated matter of factly.

Will let out a slow breath and began to clean the blood away from the wound. "I haven't had much luck with relationships, Harry."

Harry caught Will's wrist and met his gaze again. "I know, but this might be different." Will was still hesitant. Sure, he liked Harry. The son of Hermes was witty, smart, was surprisingly good at singing and playing guitar, kind and handsome. It was almost impossible _not _to like him. But did he _like _him? Will bit his lip. He knew that he felt something more than just a normal friendship for Harry... but was it love?

As though sensing his uncertainty, Harry pressed his lips to Will's. Will could feel the sparks flying and when they broke away, Harry's cheeks were bright red. "Um... sorry, I, eheh... I don't know why I did that..."

Will smiled, causing Harry to stop attempting to stammer out an excuse. "I like you too."

* * *

Will was out of breath by the time he paused for a moment to check how many monsters had been destroyed. When the battle started, he hadn't been able to tell how many monsters there were, and after at least two hours of fighting, he _still _couldn't tell how many there were. So he assumed that not that many had been killed.

He growled and drew another arrow, shooting it through a harpy. It exploded into golden dust that showered down over the Apollo, Hermes and Aphrodite campers. "This is ridiculous..."

"Relax; we're only getting warmed up," Harry said from beside him with a smile as he slashed at a Manticore, sending it stumbling into a pit of greek fire that his cabin had dug.

Will smiled slightly before pulling out another arrow and shooting at monsters again, wishing that he could be as optimistic as his boyfriend was.

* * *

Will paused as everything around him grew silent and the monsters that they had been fighting suddenly began to retreat for no apparent reason. "Something's up..."

"Or they know that they were going to end up biting the dust if they kept fighting us," Connor said, using Will's shoulder as an arm rest. "Or in their case, becoming the dust."

Travis shook his head. "All of the monster and dust related jokes, and you use 'biting the dust'?"

Connor shrugged. Harry narrowed his eyes. "No, Will's right; they outnumbered us by hundreds..." He frowned. "So why did they leave?"

Will scanned the area, frowning when he saw something glinting in the harsh light of the sunrise. "What's that?" He crept towards it and leaned over to pick it up. Suddenly he heard someone scream his name as a shadow fell over him.

He whipped around, his eyes wide. A demonic figure with paper-white skin and smokey grey hair towered over him. Her sharp, gleaming teeth were bared and it only took Will a moment to notice that her canines were much sharper than the others. "Mormo," he whispered only to attempt to lunge out of the way as she attacked him.

He knew that he hadn't reacted fast enough and prepared to feel the vampire's teeth sink into his neck, but he heard someone else scream in pain. Turning, his eyes widened in horror as he watched Harry crumple to the ground, Mormo drawing as much blood as she could from his neck.

Will pulled out an arrow and, ignoring his bow, stabbed it into Mormo's back. The ancient vampire released Harry and exploded into golden dust.

Will pulled out his first aid kit and ran to Harry's side. Harry's breath was coming in short, laboured gasps, but there was a small smile on his face.

"Why?" Will choked out, tears forming in his eyes. "Why would you sacrifice yourself for me?"

"I... couldn't let them...take my Sunshine away..." Harry gasped out. Will pulled a syringe filled with nectar out of his first aid kit, but Harry slowly shook his head. "We both know it's... too late, Sunshine."

The tears spilled out of Will's eyes. "I love you, Harry..."

"I love you too..." By that stage, Harry's voice was no more than a whisper and the only way Will could tell he was alive was because he blinked every ten seconds. "Sunshine..."

He stilled. A small line of blood trickled from his mouth down his chin. Ten seconds passed.

He didn't blink.

* * *

Will pushed past the celebrating campers and moved towards the campfire. So much had been lost in the Titan war... so many lives...

And they were all laughing and having a good time. Anger bubbled up in Will and he clenched his fists, but realisation made him relax.

_Not all of them are having fun. For most, it's a sheild to protect them so that they don't shatter._ Will slowly shook his head as he arrived at the campfire. It didn't matter what was going on; unless it was night, the campfire was usually nearly deserted.

He looked around for Hestia, but she was no longer there.

"She's gone to Olympus," a voice said. Will turned to see Nico di Angelo sitting on a log and staring into the fire. "She said something about needing to be there for the gods in case any of them need someone to talk to after the war."

"Oh..." was all that Will could say to that. "Okay... thanks, Nico."

Nico looked up, meeting his gaze. A lot had changed about the son of Hades since Will had first met him. His skin was pale from lack of sunlight, sleep and nutrition, and there were dark circles under his eyes. His hair was longer, shaggier and messier and there was an aura of darkness around him.

But his eyes were the same. Dark brown, concerned and welcoming, if you looked past the barrier he had put up.

"Harry's gone, isn't he?"

"How did you know?"

"You always come here if something happens," Nico mumbled in response.

Will nodded as though in a daze. "He... he saved me from the vampire, Mormo."

Nico hesitated before moving over on the log so that there was room for two people. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Will hesitated before nodding again and sitting down next to Nico, tears already forming in his eyes again. "Yeah. Thanks, Nico..."

Nico smiled softly. "Anytime, Will."


	4. Too Dark for Sunshine

_DD: And Solangelo has arrived! This is set just after the end of Blood of Olympus, so spoilers ahead!_

* * *

When Nico walked back towards Will, his mind was reeling. _Did I really just tell Percy I had a crush on him? In front of his girlfriend? _He let out a slow breath and cursed in Greek.

"What was that about?" Will asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing," Nico sighed. "Just forget about it."

Will rolled his eyes. "Fine. But those three days of bedrest start _now_."

"But I'm fine," Nico began to protest.

Will cut him off with a snort. "Yeah right. You're literally on the verge of melting into a puddle of darkness so don't play that," he did a bad impression of Nico's voice, "'I'm fine'," and went back to speaking normally, "crap with me."

Nico gritted his teeth. "I don't sound like that."

"That's not important." Will sighed. "Look, just stay in bed for a day and if you want you can help me around the infirmary after that. But you're not leaving the infirmary until Thursday."

"But-"

"No buts."

Nico sighed. "Fine..."

Will grinned at him. "Come on, Death Boy. Let's find you a bed."

"Don't call me Death Boy, Yugure."

Will suddenly paused. "Did you just call me... Yugure?"

_Crap, I said that out loud..._ Nico hid a blush. "So what if I did?"

"What does it mean?"

"It's Twilight in Japanese."

"You mean... like the books?"

Nico scowled and held up a hand. "Don't talk to me about those wastes of paper."

Will couldn't hide the small chuckle that followed Nico's statement. "Then why Twilight?"

"Well Sunshine doesn't fit," Nico replied. "Now I thought you wanted me to go to the infirmary."

"I thought you wanted to avoid it?" Will smirked.

Nico scowled. "Shut up, Solace."

* * *

_Why Twilight? Why did he call me Twilight?_ Will couldn't get it out of his head as he led Nico past the lines of demigods recovering from the war.

There weren't as many as he thought there would be but those that _were_ injured were injured _badly._

Will saw Nico's expression darken as they passed a daughter of Demeter that had - until Will got to her an hour ago - been lying there with an arrow protruding from her stomach.

Guilt clawed at his stomach. He should have gotten to her sooner...

They continued past various injured demigods to the small bed at the end of the tent-like infirmary.

"Sorry, but this is the best I could do," Will said with an apologetic smile.

Nico chuckled dryly. "Trust me; it's better than the coffins." Will blinked, a blank look on his face. "The beds in the Hades cabin are basically coffins made like bunk beds."

"That is so stereotypical," Will said, trying to hide a laugh. "One vampire daughter of Hades and suddenly every child of his is a vampire."

Nico blinked. "I have a vampire for a sister?"

"Had," Will corrected. "She died in the Titan war. Her... her name was Mormo, I think." His heart thudded painfully at the thought of the vampire that had killed Harry. He knew that the son of Hermes had chosen resurection; he often heard about him in some new boyband. Rumour was he was dating one of the other band members.

Nico looked up at the son of Apollo. "How do you know?"

"I, uh... kind of fought her," Will replied. His smile seemed less bright somehow. Then he changed the topic. "So why did you call me Twilight?"

Before Nico could respond, one of Will's sisters - Noelani - ran into the room. "Will; it's the Demeter kid!"

In an instant, Will was at the daughter of Demeter's side with Nico just behind him. Her breath was laboured and a cold sweat was clinging to her brow. She met Will's gaze and he could see that her bright green eyes were already cloudy. "Get her some ambrosia and nectar," he snapped at whichever of his siblings was beside him.

"Don't," the girl rasped. She grabbed Will's wrist, meeting his gaze despite her obvious pain. "Give it to someone that it will actually help," she pleaded.

"What about you?" He asked, feeling as though he was failing.

She slowly shook her head. "I-I'm going to d-die anyway," she choked out. It sounded like she was straining to speak. "J-just t-tell my mom that I-I was f-fighting for her if you e-ever s-see her..."

Will slowly nodded. "I will," he whispered. The girl smiled softly and closed her eyes. Her hand lost its grip on Will's wrist and slipped down over the edge of the bed.

Will looked down. "Noelani," he whispered, his voice raspy. "Will you...?"

Noelani nodded and picked the girl up with the help of another of their siblings.

Will felt slow tears drip down his cheeks. He had failed.

And he wouldn't even be able to carry out the girl's final wish.

How could he tell Demeter that a daughter of hers had died fighting for her when he didn't even know the girl's name?

"I failed," he whispered, his tears dripping onto the floor. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he looked up through his lashes to see Nico giving him a concerned look.

"It wasn't your fault," Nico murmured.

Will hesitated before standing up and wiping away his tears on the sleeve of his jumper. "You should be in bed."

"But-"

"I'll be there soon," Will promised, forcing a convincing fake smile. Nico hesitated before nodding and turning around. Will sighed and rubbed his arm, glancing at the now-empty bed that had previously held the daughter of Demeter. He would have to ask for her name later.

It looked like it would be another painful night.

As though in a trance, he stumbled towards the locker room-like area. Cabinets with every patients name, medical history and medical needs on it filled the room. There was now a blank cabinet; probably the daughter of Demeter's who had died.

He took the nectar and sleeping tablets from the cabinet that had Nico's name on it. Walking back to Nico's bed, he handed Nico the tablets and godly drink. "Have these; they should help you get a decent night's sleep at least."

Nico made a face but swallowed the pills and the drink. His eyes slowly began to close. "That's why I called you Twilight," he mumbled sleepily.

"What was?" Will asked in confusion.

"Beatrix dying..." Beatrix must have been the daughter of Demeter, Will realised. "Your reaction to it... you were blaming yourself even though you couldn't have done anything. That and your past..." Nico gave Will a rare and small smile as his eyes slid closed. "You're too dark to be Sunshine."


	5. No One Cares

_DD: Self-harm ahead. Just warning you._

* * *

Will gripped the edges of the sink, his knuckles turning white. _You're too dark for Sunshine._ That one sentence continued to plague his mind.

He groaned and splashed water on his face, his head spinning. He supposed it was true. He didn't have what most people would call a happy life.

But he couldn't complain. It had been drilled into him not to.

_"Stop complaining!"_

Will winced at the memory, his breath becoming somewhat uneven. He gripped his hair in one hand. "Block it out, block it out," he whispered to himself.

_"You're worthless! I can't believe I ever wasted my time on you!"_

His grip tightened to the point that he was almost ripping his hair out of his head.

_"Don't cry, you pathetic piece of trash!"_

He pinched his arm. The pain drew him out of the flashback and he took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He splashed more water on his face and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes.

"Will?" Will looked up as Noelani knocked on the bathroom door. "Will, are you okay?"

"Yeah," Will called, trying to stop his voice from cracking. "I'm fine."

"If you're sure..." He heard Noelani mutter. "Nico's condition's stabilising if you want to go and check on him."

"I'll be out in a minute," Will called. He waited until he heard Noelani leave before he looked in the mirror.

He was right. It really would be a painful night.

* * *

When Nico woke up, it was dark. He sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again. He stretched his arms behind his head and rested on them.

It was the first time that he didn't feel like he was going to fade into a puddle of darkness in days.

He let out a slow breath and turned on his side. Then he blinked.

Will was sleeping in the wooden chair next to his bed.

"Solace...?" Nico muttered. He reached out a hand and poked Will's cheek.

The son of Apollo's nose scrunched up slightly and he muttered something before batting Nico's hand away.

Nico rolled his eyes and poked Will again, this time harder.

Will's eyes flashed open. "Pineapples!"

The two stared at each other for a moment before they burst out laughing.

"Wh-what _was _that?" Nico laughed.

"I honestly have no idea," Will chuckled, his eyes alive with mirth. Then he grew serious. "But what are you doing awake? It's the middle of the night."

Nico shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."

He swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Hey, hey, hey!" Will protested, putting out a hand to stop him. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Getting up." Nico shrugged. "I feel fine and I can't sleep."

"I said that you had to have three days of bedrest and you agreed!"

"I said I'd spend three days in the infirmary." Nico smirked. "But I never specified that I'd spend the entire time in bed."

"...You suck," Will sighed, pulling his hand back.

"You know you love me," Nico chuckled, striking a ridiculous pose. It took all of Will's self control not to burst out laughing again. Nico stood up. "Besides, I'll be back in a minute; I just need to go to the bathroom."

"You know there's a bedpan?" Will raised an eyebrow.

Nico's eyes seemed to darken. "_Never_ am I _ever _going to use that monstrosity," he growled. Then he turned and walked towards the bathroom.

Will sighed and relaxed in the chair before blinking. _Who says monstrosity anymore?_

* * *

Will swallowed, finding it hard to breathe as he leaned against the cool, polished porcelain of the infirmary sink. Nico had managed to sleep again an hour or so beforehand, and Will had tried to ignore the growing need for his saviour rising in him, but he couldn't.

He stared into the mirror.

_"Coward! You can't even fight back!"_

He flinched and swallowed again, trying to moisten his throat to make it easier to breathe.

_"Pain is good for you! It's what it deserve!"_

_It really is, _Will thought. He pulled the scalpel out of his pocket.

_"It's all that you deserve!"_

Will sighed and pulled up his sleeve, looking at the long, deep gashes that littered his arm in the dozens. _I deserve this._

_"No one will help you!"_

Will held the blade just over the abused flesh.

_"No one will try to help!"_

Will gritted his teeth together and pulled the blade over his skin. The crimson liquid rose to the surface of his arm. An instantanious wave of relief washed over Will and he felt his tense shoulders relax. He could breathe again.

He pressed the blade to the same area and pulled it across the injury. The colour of the blood deepened from crimson to scarlet.

He felt a small, sad smile on his face. He placed the blade to an almost healed wound and ripped it open again.

He winced slightly, but he couldn't feel as much pain as he should have felt. All he really felt was the pressure of the blade and then there was nothing but blissful relief.

_"Do you want to know why?"_

He swallowed, his throat tightening again. He quickly pressed the blade to his skin again. Blood sprung up on either side of the blade. His throat loosened but the voice stayed with him.

_"Do you, Solace?"_

The blood turned from crimson to scarlet. He didn't let up the pressure. The blood slowly continued to deepen in colour, past scarlet to the colour of rich mulled wine.

His breathing quickened with fear and adrenaline but still he didn't let up pressure until the final line had passed through his memory.

_"Because no one cares."_

* * *

_DD: Okay, I don't want flames saying that I shouldn't have had Will self-harming. Two of his past boyfriends died, his first boyfriend used him for the Aphrodite rite of passage and his past as a kid isn't very bright, as you can see from his flashbacks. Anyway, please review without flaming._


End file.
